The Lord of the Flies novel, by William Golding, is a symbolic allegory, delving deep into the true horrors of war, savagery, and the loss of innocence throughout the duration of time the children spent on the island. I the novel a situation arises involving a dead parachutist, still he represents so much more than Mr. Golding makes apparent. Commonly applied to the story is the ideology of a “beast,” the concept behind these two aspects are similar, yet have a distinct separation between them. Just like the notion of the “beast” and the dead parachutist is the “Lord of the Flies” himself, pertaining to reasons related to that of the other two major examples of symbolism. The dead parachutist is so much more than what you see, you must go deeper …show more content…
Simon, a boy who portrays Jesus, in attempts to tell the other boys about the real “beast” and what the “creature” truly is, he pays with his life, just like the son of God, when he would bring God’s word to the people and endures punishment for it. Simon releases the poor man whose pulse has stopped beating its rhythmic tune, allowing him to be swallowed up in the ocean, forgotten in the deep blue waves, and forgotten when the only one carrying knowledge of the truth dies; this shows freedom from the fight, when the wind carries the body to the sea for the water to embrace him, like a baby in a mother’s womb. Another theme that the parachutist indicates is the lack of communication to the real world, the man is dead, along with any form of communication, then when he drifts off many of the boys start losing hope and omitting the fact that the fire is their form of communication, a signal to the world that they are there, stuck on an island away from the rules of society and waiting for someone to rescue them. Furthermore, the lifeless body of the man is not a simple message, rather a task to remember, to remember that they are not savages, but young British
The “beast” is given a physical form, a dead parachutist. The body falls onto the island by, “a battle fought at ten miles’ height,” and is first seen by Samneric (Doc D). In the dead of night the boys can’t see clearly and run to Ralph saying, “We saw- the beast,” (Doc D). At this point in the story, fear and tension amongst the boys rise due to the alleged sighting of the “beast”. However, the war which produced the body, is the real “beast” and sets the boys’ mini war in motion.
On the surface, The Lord of the Flies seems as if it is just a common adventure story about the struggles of a group of young boys. However, if you look closer you will realize it is a complex story about power and the power of symbols. The plethora of unspoken symbols and the impressive use of power in The Lord of the Flies transforms the novel into much more than just a favorable story. The Lord of the Flies is a legend in the world of literature, and the novel’s fascinating use of symbols allowed it to become this way.
Freed from the constraints of society and civilization, the boys relish in their freedom in the isolated tropical island and eventually descend into instinctual madness and sin, the lines between democracy and anarchy blurring. In Ralph’s midst of yearning for a sign from the outside world, that night, a dead airman falls and sways onto the top of the mountain, alluding to World War II. Flapping back and forth, the parachute man conjures up a powerful image of defeat, death, and decay to the boys, the visualization of the lingering fear and evil within man’s heart. While law and order of the adult world is waning, the boys become fearful of the unknown, as the Beast prospers control over Jack and his hunters, and childish conflict erupts between Ralph and Jack. Parallel to the conflict amongst the boys between civilization and savagery, the dead parachutist symbolizes the end of adult supervision of the boys on the island and reminds us of the raging conflict in the larger, adult
The novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding was inspired by his time as a veteran in World War II. His goal was to portray the change in people’s morality that he witnessed because of the war. He reflected this situation-based change into his characters. The most evident of which was Jack, who, initially described as a proper, cultured choirboy, slowly transitioned into savagery. He conveyed Golding’s idea that civilization’s conditioning of right and wrong merely masks humans’ more primitive and barbaric nature.
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, young boys get stranded on an island with no adults in the midst of a war. The boys were orderly and civilized in the beginning but then as they began killing pigs they slowly became savages and lost their civilization. The boys began turning on each other and the evil within them became present. Golding uses a variety of literary devices including personification, symbols, metaphors, and irony, to project the theme that pure and realistic people in the world can be unheard and destroyed by evil.
The events of Lord of the Flies are almost entirely reflective of the defects, flaws, and traits which lurk within our characters. Each character with their own ideologies and desires, constantly contradicting the ideas of one another. William Golding paints a picture of how society would crumble without law, order, and strong leadership. Highlighting the main events, impactful quotes, and brazen acts driving the action in this novel, ultimately causing the collapse of civilized behavior and death of two young boys.
In Lord of The Flies by William Golding, dozens of british schoolboys find themselves stranded on an island after an horrific plane crash. As the boys get more accustomed to life on the island, they lose their grasps on civilization and even result to savage tendencies such as murder. Right before the barbarous boys, who were deceived by their power-crazed peer, (Jack) were about to kill their former chief, a navy general arrived to the island and brought them back to civilization. Golding uses an abundance of symbolism throughout the novel to give characters complex and deeper attributes. For example, hair is a major symbol and is used frequently throughout the novel to give us insight on characters and the setting.
Manipulation to create power One powerful tool to gain power over an induvidual is minipulation. In goldings novel lord of the flies many characters are minipulated and power changes hand through many characters. The key character that creates power through manipulation is jack. The three ways he uses this manipulation is by violance , food and fear. One of the most powerful forms of manipulation that jack uses in the novel is fear.
Literary Analyses of the Lord of the Flies The Lord of the Flies demonstrates a wide variety of symbolism; from Christ to Satan the children are portrayed in an abstract manner to represent these religious beings, as well as a symbol of great strife for power. Two of the main symbolic devices are used in the form of a mystical Conch and a cumbersome Sow’s head perched atop a stake; however these symbols represent very different ideas. Next the Lord of the Flies demonstrates the burden and struggle of power in multiple ways. William Golding included within this novel the power of symbolism, using inanimate objects, characters, or even landmasses to represent ideals derived from basic human morals and Christian religion that has a major influence
For example, Simon is a character with many Christ figure qualities. Simon proves he is good with children when he assists the younger children by grabbing hard to reach fruit for them. Also, Simon is empathetic toward Ralph and reassures him that he will get off the island. Not only does Simon display Christ-like characteristics, but he also has many interactions that can be seen as biblical allusions. For example, Simon is tempted by the Lord of the Flies in the jungle, just like when Jesus was tempted by Satan when he goes into the desert for forty days.
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, there are many symbolic concepts within the novel such as the beast, and the pigs head. Golding uses these concepts to portray to the reader his idea that when humans are left without rules or organisation they will break from a civilised manner and become savages allowing evil to over take them. One of the most important symbols used to help the reader understand Golding's idea is the beast. Many of the boys believe their is a beast on the island and become fearful.
In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, he created this book about a group of proper british boys to show that even the most civilize of all can turn inhuman and go savage. Also being in the war helped Golding to see what people were capable of even if they were good at heart. The themes in Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, were influenced by his childhood, his experiences in the war, and his view of human nature. Golding’s early life influenced the theme in Lord of the Flies.
When Simon sees it he faints and has a vision where the head talks to him. The head reveals the truth that the boys are the beast on the island. This truth allows Simon to fully understand his own idea that the beat was “only us.” It becomes clear to him that when he said this he meant that the beast is the darkness residing inside them.
(Golding, 77). Although the boys laugh at Simon’s idea, his belief conforms Golding’s idea that inner evil exists. The boys develop into the beast when they kill Simon. Simon was desperate to explain the unidentified creature on the mountain but the boys weren’t in the mood for listening to him. With his brutal murder by the other boys, chaos takes over civilized order on the island.
William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies does not simply describe the life of a group of children stranded on an island, but rather it is a representation of the qualities of human nature. As the novel progresses, the children grow deeper into savagery, performing actions that would be often criticised in society. The absence of law and order devolves even those that attempt to recreate it, like Ralph and Piggy. In this novel, Golding uses children to answer the question whether or not humans are born inanimately good or truly evil. Golding answers this question by symbolising the main characters and their descent into savagery.